The University of Michigan football program and its head coach, Rich Rodriguez, are facing five “major violations,” according to a notice sent by the NCAA. Among the violations, briefly: too many coaches, excessive summer workouts, false or misleading info from a graduate assistant coach, failure “to promote an atmosphere of compliance” by the head coach and failure to monitor compliance by the athletic department.

Most of the violations reportedly started in January 2008, Rich Rod’s second month in Ann Arbor. They are the first alleged major violations in the history of the Michigan program’s 131-year history.

Players on the 2008 and 2009 teams described training and practice sessions that far exceeded limits set by the NCAA, which governs college athletics. The restrictions are designed to protect players’ well-being, ensure adequate study time and prevent schools from gaining an unfair competitive advantage.

The players, who did not want to be identified because they said they feared repercussions from coaches, said the violations occurred the direction of Rodriguez’s staff.

“We know the practice and off-season rules, and we stay within the guidelines,” Rodriguez said in a statement issued at the time. “We follow the rules and have always been completely committed to being compliant with all NCAA rules.” –FreeP.

I’m sure people in Ann Arbor won’t be that upset. It’s not like Coach Rod hasn’t been winning games up there…oh, wait…

We’ve already made a case for Andy Reid, who couldn’t manage a clock if it was jammed into a serving of chicken marsala. But here are four other coaches, college and pro, who have come up short in their respective 2009 campaigns.

Eric Mangini, Cleveland Browns. Some people can step into a new organization and sling their dick anywhere they want, because as long as the team wins, they’re cool. But unlike Josh McDaniels in Denver–who was taking over an underperforming playoff-caliber team, Mangini hasn’t delivered the results that were expected from such dickery, and he’s likely to be a one-and-done coach as the Browns seem to be heading backward. Again.

2009 Wins: One, a 6-3 puntfest against Buffalo. And Buffalo sucks.

Charlie Weis, Notre Dame. The man who brought “FUPA” into the blogger lexicon, Weis might be the only coach in America with a signature loss, the Bush Push game in 2005. Weis was expected to have a chance to run the table in 2009, but he’s already lost three games (including losing to Navy at home on Saturday) with three to play.

2009 Wins: Six, with only two (Nevada, Washington State) by more than seven points.

Rich Rodriguez, Michigan. Charlie Weis with about half the calories. This is the only guy that would leave the Maize-and-Blue faithful pining for the days of Lloyd Carr. DickRod and Michigan seem to fit like OJ Simpson and those gloves, but with all the money they’re paying that guy, one might expect for this divorce to be even bloodier.

2009 Wins: Five, with all but one (Indiana) against non-conference teams, including a 63-6 drubbing of Delaware State. Awesome.

ASYLUM POLL: Who’s the worst coach in all of football today?

West Virginia hired a new coach to replace Rich Rodriguez, who departed for a better job at Michigan almost a month ago.  But WFV fans are still plenty pissed that someone would have the temerity to leave such a fine state.

Mountaineer fans furious over Rodriguez’s Dec. 16 decision to accept the head coaching job at Michigan have vandalized his home near Morgantown, hanging signs on a fence and tossing a mailbox in the yard. Arleen Rodriguez [Rich's mother] says her teenage grandson received a death threat and found other harassing notes taped to his locker at East Fairmont (Va.) High School, while her 12-year-old granddaughter had to be escorted to classes.

It's kind of awkward for me to provide commentary on this story, because when I first read it I thought that Rich Rodriguez and Robert Rodriguez were the same person.  I read it three times and kept thinking, "Sure, the Spy Kids movies are dumb, but is it really worth threatening his children over?  And shouldn't Sin City earn him a free pass?"  In hindsight, I guess it makes a little more sense than I originally thought.

[via The Debriefing]